TY - THES A1 - Masselus, Lise T1 - Evaluating Poverty Alleviation: Essays on Microfinance, Energy Access and Limits to the Gold Standard in Empirical Economics N2 - In my dissertation, I combine topical contributions on microfinance and energy access, two prevalent poverty alleviation policies, with methodological contributions on how empirical economics research can contribute to effective policymaking. Chapter 1 reviews the existing experimental evidence on microfinance. We use this deep literature to highlight challenges in generalizing from empirical research. Chapter 2 and 3 provide empirical insights on the energy access-poverty nexus. We study the long-term adoption of grid electrification and evaluate whether productive use can foster adoption and impact. Chapter 4 addresses data quality, an essential yet often overlooked element in research and policymaking. This introduction provides a general overview on microfinance, energy access, and methodological critiques on common practices in empirical economics research. [from the introduction] KW - energy access KW - microfinance KW - meta-science KW - survey methods Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14981 ER -